Donner
When a precious hoard of gold is stolen from the river Rhine, it unleashes a chain of destructive events, pitting gods and mortals against one another for generations. Wagner’s Ring cycle boasts some of the greatest music ever written for the opera stage. Join us as we embark on a spectacular journey into the world of myth, dream and memory, with the figure of Erda – Mother Earth herself – at its centre.
Iokanaan
The Galilean Princess Salome is one of the mythical female figures in Western cultural history. Her erotic dance in front of her stepfather Herod is already mentioned in the gospels of the Bible, for whom she has the severed head of John the Baptist brought on a bowl in return.
Conte Monterone
Pasión, engaño y venganza, sobre las aguas del Lago Constanza. El escenario flotante del Festival de Bregenz, en Austria, acoge por primera vez en sus 73 años de historia, la ópera Rigoletto, de Giuseppe Verdi. Philipp Stölzl, escenógrafo, director de cine y de escena alemán ha llevado un monumental Rigoletto al mundo circense para explicar la historia de un padre desafortunado que quería a su hija en demasía, controlándola demasiado para evitarle caer en las pérfidas manos del libidinoso Duque de Mantua. Enrique Mazzola, dirigiendo desde el contiguo Festspielhaus a la Sinfónica de Viena, consiguió llevar a buen puerto la popular obra verdiana. Vocalmente hubo dos claros protagonistas, Vladimir Stoyanov como Rigoletto y la Gilda de la soprano francesa Mélissa Petit.
Escamillo
This ever-popular opera is given a fresh point of view in Barrie Kosky’s highly physical production, originally created for Frankfurt Opera. The Australian director is one of the world’s most sought-after opera directors, whose Royal Opera debut with Shostakovich’s The Nose in 2016 was greeted with delight. For Carmen he has devised a far-from-traditional version, incorporating music written by Bizet for the score but not usually heard, and giving a new voice to the opera’s endlessly fascinating central character.
Baron Douphol
Natalie Dessay made her first European appearances as Violetta in La traviata in a new production by the French director Jean-François Sivadier at the 2011 Aix-en-Provence Festival. This DVD captures her intense performance in the company of American tenor Charles Castronovo as Alfredo and French baritone Ludovic Tézier as his father, Giorgio Germont.
Colline
John Copley's enduring production of one of the most famously melodious and popular of all operas is a classic of the Royal Opera repertory. With historically accurate designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman and an excellent cast headed by Hibla Gerzmava and Teodor Ilincai, this 2009 revival, in which conductor Andris Nelsons makes a distinguished Royal Opera House debut, does full justice to Puccini's masterpiece. Recorded 2009.
Journalist
New peoduction, 2009. Filmed by the Royal Opera House in co-production with Opus Arte, June 13/17.
